Government dysfunction is downright dangerous

When Boston officials decided to monitor Twitter during this year's marathon, they didn't scan the site's 500 million daily posts for signs of trouble. Dataminr did that for them.

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With House Speaker John Boehner writing an Op-ed criticizing the President for overstepping his authority, and the President charging Congress for failing to do its job, Americans conclude that they are both correct. Immigration trouble is bubbling at the border with children enslaved at military bases while the system struggles to ensure their rights to due process. The trouble is that there are in excess of 50,000. That number surely outstrips resource capacity. Part of the problem is that loopholes in existing law allow for the processing bulge instead of treating Central Americans like Mexicans and sending them home immediately. Critics charge that the law could be fixed on a number of points if and when Congress decides to do its job.

Simultaneously, Republicans charge that terrorists may be entering through the porous system. That is plausible because ISIS terrorists have launched jihad against the U.S. and free world. They have done that in part because American foreign policy was inept and incomplete. The Obama administration failed to complete actions in Iraq and Syria in a timely manner. Now, we have true danger lurking as much as ever before.

The American system that is one of maximizing freedom is now vulnerable in multiple ways. The trouble and potential danger cannot be blamed on the President alone. Congress has been attacking Obama since day one. American voters who elected the President didn’t have that in mind.

America remains divided and one can only hope that between now and November nothing terrible happens. It will be more of a matter of luck than purpose if that happens.

There is little doubt that terrorists are seeking an open door to strike Americans, and that “government” with the “big G” has left it wide open.

“US increases security at foreign airports, with focus on cellphone, other electronic devicesPublished July 07, 2014FoxNews.com

Passengers taking international flights into the United States now must have their cellphones and other electronic devices pass additional inspection before boarding planes, as part of the Transportation Security Administration’s most recent strategy to protect against the threat of a new type of terror attack.The TSA said Sunday it is requiring only some overseas airports to conduct the additional inspections. The agency also said devices that fail to power up won't be allowed on planes and that their owners might have to undergo extra screening before boarding.

“As the traveling public knows, all electronic devices are [already] screened by security officers,” the agency said in a release.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on Wednesday ordered the TSA to put extra security measures in place at some international airports with direct flights to the U.S., based on intelligence that suggests new Al Qaeda efforts to produce a bomb that would go undetected through airport security.

Some experts have suggested such a device would be planted in a laptop or other such electronic devices.“Our job is to try to anticipate the next attack, not simply react to the last one,” Johnson said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “So we continually evaluate the world situation. And we know that there remains a terrorist threat to the United States. And aviation security is a large part of that.”Johnson said he and others in the Obama administration would continue to evaluate whether the increased security will be applied to U.S. domestic flights.

The beefed up security is almost certainly a response to recent intelligence reports suggesting that Al Qaeda-linked terrorists in Syria are working with members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to blow up a commercial aircraft headed to the U.S. or Europe, as reported first by ABC News.Americans and others from the West have traveled to Syria over the past year to join Al Nusra Front's fight against the Syrian government.

One fear is fighters with a U.S. or Western passport -- and therefore subject to less stringent security screening -- could carry such a bomb onto an American plane.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has long been fixated on bringing down airplanes with hidden explosives. It was behind failed and thwarted plots involving suicide bombers with explosives designed to hide inside underwear and explosives hidden inside printer cartridges shipped on cargo planes.

An American Airlines spokesman said last week that the company has been in contact with U.S. officials about the new requirements, but declined to comment further.

The United Kingdom also said it is increasing security measures “in conjunction with international partners and the aviation industry.” Officials also said they don’t anticipate significant disruptions for passengers and that they will not raise the terror-threat level.”

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James A. George has over 25 years of experience working in the government consulting space with many years interacting with Congressional staff and government executives as a program manager and executive in developing policies. He was liaison between the Office of Secretary of Defense and the Aerospace Industries Association addressing standards for electronic commerce. He has written hundreds of papers and a book titled Smart Data, Enterprise Performance Optimization Strategy (c)2010 Wiley Publishing. He has published columns titled "The American Political System" and wrote a new book titled How to Select and American President (c)2011 All Rights Reserved.

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